I only bring it up because Howie/Sandy once said something about Tony Shalloub's wife (name escapes, but she was in one of the many crappy Stephen King movies, iirc. And about 50lbs lighter, too) getting appendicitis immediately after being on Howie's show.
Fri column ping. btw is Howie taking another week off?
Someone on SaveWRKO.com said they heard Reese Hopkins say he’s in for Howie “the week of the 21st”...
Retired Bulger boy grabs onto second state job
By Howie Carr | Friday, April 11, 2008 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Columnists
Another nationwide search, another Bulger added to the state payroll.
And not just any Bulger, either, you understand. This new Bulger on the state payroll, Patrick, has already maxed out his MBTA pension, so now it’s time to start working on a new one. At the still-tender age of 43.
It’s a beautiful thing, the hackerama that is the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. You get on the T in July 1984, at age 20, when your father is president of the Senate and your uncle is the biggest gangster in the state, and you get to retire as a $72,675-a-year construction inspector last Dec. 1, with those 23 years you needed to max out your T pension.
State budget crisis? What state budget crisis? Not for anybody named Bulger, anyway.
This all happened so fast that, as of yesterday, we had Patrick listed twice on the Herald payroll Web site, once for his old T job and once for his brand-new probation slot.
For the record, Pat Bulger is now collecting around 60 percent of his T salary, or just over $40,000 a year. Plus his new state job as assistant court services coordinator pays $40,447 a year. Add it all up, and the Corrupt Midget’s kid is raking in more than 80 large a year.
Of course, Pat doesn’t make nearly as much as his little brother Chris Bulger at his job at the Probation Office, but then Chris is deputy legal counsel, for $102,947 a year.
I found out about this latest nationwide search in a snail-mail missive from a concerned citizen.
“Howie,” it began, “looks like your (sic) slipping. I can’t believe you missed another Bulger getting on the state payroll.”
“Signed, Howie your (sic) losing your step.”
Hey, pal, how do you think I get my information? By putting on a turban and a cape, turning off the lights and sitting in front of a crystal ball, watching hacks’ names float up to the surface through the ether? You dropped a dime, it’s in the paper this morning, OK? Just get me the ball and I’ll run with it.
As long as we’re talking about Bulgers and pensions, let’s run down the list, with the latest up-to-date numbers for the whole clan. First, as always, is Pat’s dad, Billy - the King of the Kiss in the Mail.
Annual gross state pension, and it’s very gross: $197,305.92. Monthly: $16,457.16.
Then there’s his serial-killing older brother, Whitey, who “won” one-sixth of a huge Lottery game in 1991. On July 26, Whitey’s annual check will be issued: $119,408. Sadly for the Bulgers, that Lottery loot now goes directly to the feds. What was once Whitey’s check is now made out to “U.S. Marshals Service Re: James Bulger.”
Another Bulger-family tragedy: The third brother, Jackie, has also been stripped of his state pension, which was over $4,000 a month, on account of his federal felony conviction. Jackie is appealing to get his kiss back on Eighth Amendment grounds - that it’s cruel and unusual punishment to deny any Bulger any opportunity to insert his snout into the public trough.
Jackie’s ex is a former court-system employee, and she now collects a pension of $26,577. Jackie’s son Mark is on the MBTA for $55,764, and his son-in-law Bob Zodda is likewise a T employee for $55,224. Beth Bulger Zodda works for the Senate (go figure) for $56,779. Her aunt Jean Holland is retired from a Senate job and collects $22,189. Billy has a son-in-law named Michael Hurley (perhaps you remember his name from his father-in-law’s latest photo finish with a grand jury) who is also employed by the state Senate, for $89,142.
Another sister: Carol McCarthy, who came to the trough late, but still partakes of the traditional kiss in the mail: $1,809.17 a month for her distinguished service at the state archives and then the MDC.
In-laws are also invited to come on down, and not just at the T and in the East Cambridge courthouse. Say hi-how-wah-ya to Billy’s brother-in-law William McKeon, former bigshot in the state Environmental Police, aka the Fish Police. He’s retired with a monthly state pension of $5,291.94. Not bad, except by Bulger standards. I wonder if he can get another job somewhere else to supplant his kiss. Do you suppose the Coast Guard is hiring?
I’m sure I missed a few, but feel free to drop a dime. I need your help. The name is Carr, after all, not Carnac.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1086385